TreePeople digs $2,500 grant for its Campus Forestry program

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Los Angeles - The nonprofit TreePeople was awarded $2,500 for its award-winning Campus Forestry program from the ERM Foundation.

TreePeople's Campus Forestry program teaches young people to be stewards of the urban environment and supports elementary and secondary schools in Los Angeles to plant and care for trees on their campuses.

Most school campuses in Los Angeles are paved with hard blacktop - which absorbs heat in warm months and causes stormwater runoff in the rainy season.

TreePeople's program to replace blacktop with trees helps cool campuses and prevent runoff. It also offers students a healthier and safer place to learn and play.

TreePeople's planting and tree care curriculum is based on California State Standards; the curriculum transforms the one-day tree planting into a comprehensive three to six month learning experience for students.

The long-term impact creates a living laboratory that empowers the school community, offers outdoor educational opportunities for students and dramatically improves the learning environment.

"TreePeople's work with schools transforms barren, asphalt campuses into beautiful and shady learning environments," says Katie Rogers, TreePeople's Campus Forestry manager. "We're grateful to the ERM Foundation for investing in this important program and for supporting the children of Los Angeles County."

The ERM Foundation was started in 1994 in North America by a group of Environmental Resources Management employees who wanted to make a difference and donate their own time and money to projects that would improve the environment.

Now there are hundreds of employees in North America donating their personal time to local projects, and the North American Foundation has raised over $1.8 million to date.

Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is a leading global provider of environmental, health and safety, risk, and social consulting services. They deliver innovative solutions for business and government clients, helping them understand and manage their impacts on the world around them. ERM has 137 offices in 39 countries and employ approximately 3,300 staff.

TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people and technology to grow a sustainable future for Los Angeles.

For more than 35 years the nonprofit has been finding and sharing viable solutions that lead to community action in Los Angeles and beyond.

With more than two million trees planted, and one of the largest environmental education programs in the U.S., TreePeople educates and inspires youth and adults about the environment.